


Time Travel

by flynnaw00



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 15:41:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21914041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/pseuds/flynnaw00
Summary: Exactly what it sounds like! Time Travel Steven from SUF meets Steven from SU. Takes place sometime between when Steven first met Connie and An Indirect Kiss.
Comments: 45
Kudos: 571





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before SUF aired so sorry if its weird now 😔

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _

Steven’s hand smacked the clock and he hopped out of bed, racing downstairs to begin the day. The gems were gonna take him on a mission today!! Ever since he screwed up the sea spire, he’s wanted to make it up by doing something right. Maybe he could be serious Steven again.. 

He grabbed some pancake mix from the pantry and turned on the stove. It was hard to cook when he couldn’t even reach the stove top, but he made do with a stool and some good practice.

As the minutes ticked by, Steven occupied himself with singing about breakfast until the gems came out. Amethyst was first, coming over to the kitchen and climbing on the counter. 

“Ooh, what’cha making, Steven?” 

“Oh! I’m making pancakes with sprinkles!” He said, shaking a ton of sprinkles into the almost done batter. Amethyst made grabby hands for it. “Sounds yummy!!~”

''No!!” Steven pushed her away. “This is _my_ breakfast!” Amethyst snickered and dipped her finger in it. He whined. “Amethyst..” 

“Sorry, dude, couldn’t help myself.” She popped her finger in her mouth and winced. “Yikes. Hold back on the sugar.” 

She grabbed some cereal from the pantry and sat down on the couch, shovelling it into her mouth.   
Pearl was next, walking out of her room and steering clear of Amethyst. 

“Good morning, Steven. Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah! I had this weird dream about Lion and Cookie Cat! And Connie! And you were there, and Garnet was, too.. Amethyst wasn’t for some reason.. But maybe she was the purple dog I saw-”

“That’s nice, Steven.” Pearl cut him off. “Um. So, do you remember the time piece?” 

Steven put the pancakes on a plate and sat down at the island. “Um.. yeah, why? Are there more me's around?” 

“No, no.. um.. Something weird happened, is all-”

“My time thing vanished!” Amethyst yelled. Pearl groaned. “I was getting to that.. Do you know where it may have gone, Steven?”

Steven put a forkful of pancake in his mouth and thought. Did he know? He never really went into Amethyst’s room, and he hadn’t taken it.. He never wanted to see himself die again.. He shuddered. That would probably be the worst thing he’d ever see. “Um.. no.” He said. “I dunno. Maybe Amethyst just lost it?”

“Steven, don’t talk while you’re eating. I can see the food.”

“HEY, PEARL!” Amethyst yelled. Pearl turned to her and Amethyst stuck out her food covered tongue. Pearl gagged and walked off, leaving Amethyst laughing and almost choking on her cereal. 

Then, finally, Garnet came out. She walked in and sat down next to Steven. He looked up at her and swallowed his food before speaking. “Hey, Garnet!”

“Hey.” 

“Um. I’m excited about the mission today! What is it?”

“It’s a fallen gem structure. We think there may be something valuable inside, but we’re not sure what yet.”

“Oh, that sounds co-”

Suddenly, out of a small blue portal that appeared in the middle of their living room, a teen boy fell flat on his face. The portal vanished. 

“...”

“Um-” Pearl stepped towards him. He quickly stood up and gripped his head. “Shoot! Ugh.. Peridot? Where am-” He froze, looking around in confusion, then suspicion, then when he saw Steven, in horror. “Oh my god.”

Steven finally let what just happened hit him and stood up, gasping loudly. “WHOA!! HOW’D YOU TELEPORT INTO OUR HOUSE!?!?”

The teen boy recoiled in confusion. “What? I didn’t- AH!” Pearl had her spear to his neck. “Who are you!?” Amethyst brought out her whip. “Yeah!! Who are you!” “Amethyst, I just said that.” “Shut up, P.”

Garnet stood up, summoning her gauntlets. Steven rushed over to the teen and stood between him and the weapons, even though he was only half as tall. “Wait!!”

The gems looked at him in confusion.

“Don't hurt him! I'm sure he didn't mean to teleport into our house!!"

“Um..” The teenager cleared his throat. “C-could I just explain what’s going on..?”

“You better.” Amethyst cracked her whip. The teen winced. 

“Um. Hi.” He raised his hand and waved. “I’m Steven. From the future.”


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only person Steven feels that he can talk to is himself. Steven One helps Future Steven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't really proofread thissss and I don't have a third chapter planned out yettttt but I'm posting this anyways hope u like it. Also sorry if the characterization is off, I wrote this a while ago.

“_**Whhhhaattttt**_!?” Amethyst shrieked. Pearl dropped her spear and Garnet took a step back in surprise, adjusting her visor. Steven stared up at future Steven in awe. “You’re me!?? You’re so tall!!”

“Oh, uh- yeah, I gue-”

  
“Are there more of you??” Pearl asked anxiously.

“What?” Future Steven tilted his head. “Wh.. oh! The.. oh.. No, there’s no more of me. This-”

“Were you sent from the future because something horrible happened!?” Steven asked, tugging on future Steven’s jacket. “Like.. like, uh.. An apocalypse?? And you’re the last of a rebel team!?”

Future Steven blinked a few times and then just stared in confusion.

“I, uh.” Steven blushed. “Connie told me about a book where someone was from the future and-”

“Steven! This is not like a book! This is serious!” Pearl said. “Oh my stars, why are you here?”

“If you’d let me explain, I'd tell you.”

“Whoa.” Amethyst chuckled. “Your voice is so deep, dude. And, you’re, like, taller than me?? How old are you? Thirty?”

Future Steven facepalmed and groaned. “I’m sixteen and I’d like to speak!!”

“Oh.” Amethyst said, putting her whip away. 

Future Steven sighed. “Thank you. Um.. so, this was an accident. Me and Peridot were testing out some gem tech stuff.. I dunno, she just decided I’d be the perfect test subject, I guess, and then.. I see a blue flash and I'm here.” He took in a deep breath. “And I’m not trying to freak out. So. uh. If you have the time ball thingy I think I can get back to my own time and everything will be okay!”

“We don’t have the time sphere anymore.” Garnet said. “Sorry.”

Future Steven whined and put his hands in his pockets, rubbing the inside fabric. “That sucks..”

“No, it doesn’t!” Steven chimed in. “You can stay here and tell me about the future! Like.. who’s Peridot? And what gem tech? And are you from an apoc-al-ip-tic future??” 

Future Steven smiled weakly and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Pearl. “He can’t stay here! Who knows what him being here will mess up! We can’t risk messing with time anymore! And two Steven’s would be chaos!”

“Hey..” Future Steven mumbled. He was ignored. Garnet put a hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “I don’t think we have a choice. Big Steven will stay with us for now until we can put him back in his own time.”

Steven gasped. “Yay!! Oh, we need to make ourselves different somehow..” He stepped back and looked up at Future Steven. “Why?” Future Steven asked. 

“So nobody gets us confused! Duh!” 

“...” Future Steven looked down at his jacket and snorted, then started to chuckle lightly. “Oh, r-right.. Of course.” He rolled his eyes. “We look so alike..”

“Yeah! So.. stay right there!” 

Steven ran past the gems, who were deep in discussion about what to do, and upstairs. He grabbed a sharpie. “Come up here!” He yelled to Future Steven. Future Steven obliged and sat down on the bed. Steven thought it looked a little small for him. Huh. He grabbed his face and readied the sharpie. “Whoa!” Future Steven recoiled. “What are you doing??”

“I’m gonna make it so people can tell us apart by putting the number two on your face!”

“Uh.. I dunno..”

Steven frowned. “Aw, why not? Last time I met me, he let me do it.”

“... Um.” Future Steven looked down at the gems, shifting uncomfortably. Steven bit his lip. Why was future him so quiet and.. Weird? It didn’t seem like him at all.. Just another boring adult..

Future Steven turned to him and held out his hand. “Write it on my hand.”

“Oh. Okay.” Steven said, writing a big ‘2’ on his hand. Then he handed Future Steven the sharpie and held out his. “Now do me!”

Future Steven wrote a moderately sized ‘1’ on Steven’s hand and then capped the sharpie. He gazed off into the distance, shoulders bunching up to his neck. Steven frowned. “Um.. is something wrong..?” He asked, scooting closer. “Huh?” Future Steven looked over. “Oh! Um.. no. I’m- this is a lot..” He chuckled. “I feel like I should be more freaked out.. But worse stuff has happened, I guess.. I just- I just hope I can get home.”

“Oh.” 

Steven didn’t know what to say to that. He wasn’t really good at helping people- just screwing up gem stuff. And human stuff.. He wasn’t really a good Crystal Gem yet. But he’d get there! He looked at Future Steven more in depth. He had on a cool pink jacket, a blue shirt, new jeans, new sandals.. He was completely new! And he was tall and strong and had a cool deep voice.. Steven put a hand on Future Steven’s arm, startling him. 

“Um. I think you’ll get home.” He said, eyes shining with hope. “And even if you don’t, you have me! And the gems! And dad!!”

Future Steven stared at him again. Steven didn’t like that stare. It felt like he did something wrong or said something that made him feel bad. Then, he smiled, and Steven felt at ease. “Thanks. I.. yeah. Yeah. I hope I get home, too..”

“So, um..” Steven laid down. “I was supposed to go on a mission today.. But I wanna talk to you instead! Can we do that? You seem so cool.”

“What??” Future Steven snorted. “I’m cool?”

“Yeah!!” Steven exclaimed. Wasn’t it obvious?? “You’re tall, strong, um.. You have a deep voice! And cool clothes! And you probably know how to do all your gem powers!!-” He gasped, stars in his eyes. “Can you teach me how to do gem stuff..?”

Future Steven laughed, covering his face with his hand. Steven smiled, trying to play along. Future him was weird..

“Steven! And.. um.. Steven!” Pearl called. “We’re going back to the ruins of The Time Temple. You stay here! And.. Older Steven, keep an eye on.. Younger Steven.”

Future Steven gave her a thumbs up and kept chuckling. Garnet gave a thumbs up back and they warped away.

“Why are you laughing?” Steven finally asked. Future Steven shook his head. “No.. no reason. Um..” He wiped his eyes. “Shoot. Um.. sorry. I forgot how I used to be..”

“... Is that good?”

“Huh?”

“... Do you.. Not like me? Um- I mean.. You? I know I don’t like me when I was eight..”

“Oh!” Future Steven frowned and came closer to him. “No! No! You’re just so..” He gestured vaguely while trying to find the words. “So.. happy? Um, no, that’s-” He laughed awkwardly. “Not happy. Um- that would mean that I’m not happy! But I’m good. So.. um. You’re just.. So silly and fun and weird. We’ve changed, that’s all.”

“... Are you happy?” Steven curled up a bit. “Did something happen in the future..?”

Future Steven winced and his eyes saw something that Steven couldn’t. He shook his head and sighed. “No. I’m okay now. Just.. y’know.. Gem stuff is tiring..” He laid back. “... This is so weird. Talking to.. Younger me.” 

“No, it’s not! It’s fun!” Steven said, trying to lighten up the mood. Future Steven gave him another bittersweet gaze and then nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Sure. I mean.. I don’t have anything else to do, I guess. I don’t know how to get back home and..” He hummed. “Do you know Peridot?”

“No.. should I?”

“No. Okay. Um. Lapis?”

“No?”

“Yikes. Centipeetle?”

“Oh! Yeah! My monster buddy! She’s bubbled right now, but when I spat on her, she was better for a bit!”

Future Steven snoofed. “Mm.”

“So.. can you teach me stuff now? And tell me about the future??”

“Sure.” Future Steven sat up.

“Wait!” Steven said. “Let’s go someplace else!”

“Why?”

“‘Cause.. The future has to be secret. Also, I just wanna go outside.”

Future Steven snorted. “Okay. You wanna go to Super Watermelon Island?”

“Super Watermelon Island?? What’s that??”

“Oh. Uh. I’ll show you!” Future Steven got up and held out his hand. “C’mon.” Steven grabbed his hand and walked along with him. “So.. this is what it feels like to hold my own hand..” Steven mused. “I have soft hands.”

Future Steven snorted and started laughing as he got on the warp pad. Steven smiled. He was glad he wasn’t staring off into space anymore! Other him seemed happier now. 

They warped to Super Watermelon Island. The grass was a deep lush green and the palm trees swayed slightly to the breeze that whistled through the leaves. The deep crystal caves carried with them the raging crystal blue waterfall behind them. Future Steven shut his eyes, seemingly taking in all the sounds around them. Steven looked around. “Ooh!! Mask Island!!” He beamed. “I’ve been here!”

“You have?” Future Steven looked down. Steven nodded and started to walk him into the woods. “Yeah! Me and Lars and Sadie went here once! It was fun until the monster attacked Sadie and Lars got mad at her.. But they at least made up! Um..” Steven frowned as he recalled Sadie, wrestling in the mud with the monster and having to forcefully stab the wooden spear into its chest. The weight and resistance, even though Steven couldn’t see the monster, he could feel the pain as if Sadie had driven the steak into his heart. And Sadie had gotten so hurt.. And Lars got so mad.. And Steven realized even though he was having fun, he wasn’t really wanted there.. He whined and shook his head, pushing away the thought. 

“Hey.” Future Steven stopped them, squeezing Steven’s hand. Steven looked back. “What?” Future Steven pressed his lips together, searching his head for the words to say. “Um. You okay? You.. looked sad for a second.” Steven shook his head. “No, no, I’m okay! I mean.. I dunno. I guess I might be sad about.. Um.. Sadie and Lars and the monster..”

Future Steven started to walk them North. “Yeah? When Sadie got that cut and the corruption got poofed?”

“Corruption..?”

“That’s what they’re called officially, I think. They’re corrupted gems.”

“They’re gems??” Steven held his hand tighter. Future Steven nodded. “Yes. They used to be like Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.. But then something terrible happened about.. Uh..” He hummed. “Two.. no, six..? Thousand years ago? It.. no! It was two thousand, because it was after the war, maybe..?”

“War??” Steven started to feel his chest tighten up. “Wh-what war?” 

Future Steven’s eyes widened. “Um. Oh. I probably shouldn’t-” He stopped them. Steven whined and tugged on his jacket. “N-no, what war?? Were you in a war?? Am I gonna have to hurt people??”

“What?? No! The war was.. It was six- no.. ugh- it was thousands of years ago..” Future Steven leaned down. “Your mother was the one who fought it. Well, our mother.”

“Oh..” Of course. Wait, his mom fought in a war..? Wasn’t she really nice and graceful and stuff? Steven recalled the picture of her that he’d seen. The only picture or video of her that he’d seen. Was she capable of that? Hurting people? His mother wouldn’t hurt anyone.. Would she?

“What’re you thinking about?” Future Steven asked, started to walk them again. Steven looked at his feet. Future Steven took his hand and squeezed it. “Hey, you can tell me. You can trust you.” He winked and smiled half heartedly. Steven didn’t see it and balled his hand into a fist. “Why would mom be in a war?”

Future Steven gripped Steven’s hand in a vice. Steven winced and looked up at him. Future Steven was staring straight ahead, out at the ocean. They were near the edge now, with a wonderful view. “Um.” Future Steven let go of his hand. “Uh. I.. oh, stars.” He sat down and put his head in his hand. “Um..”

Steven sat down too and scooted closer to him. Why was he in so much pain? Did she do something bad..?

“She..” Future Steven started. “Um. I.. there’s a lot of things I don’t think I should tell you. But.. She was fighting for Earth. It was for a good cause, even if many died during it, okay? She fought for Earth and she fought for.. Humanity. And stuff.”

“Oh.” Steven let out some tension in his shoulders. “So mom is still good?”

“She.. wasn’t really good.”

“What??”

“But she wasn’t bad, either!” He said quickly. “She was.. Kinda in the middle? She did some good stuff, and some bad.. Like.. she saved humanity! And Earth! And.. stuff. But she also hurt a lot of people. She hurt Pearl, my dad, Spi-..” His eyes widened and he stared off into the sky for a moment, before shaking his head and sighing. “Um.. certain gems and.. me.” He laid down. 

“You?” Steven frowned. “How.. could she hurt you?”

“I have to deal with her mistakes. I.. I hope she didn’t plan on this, but if she did, that’s bad. If she didn’t then..” He sighed and laid back. He looked so tired. “I dunno. If she wanted a kid, then why didn’t she adopt..? Then she would be alive AND have a kid. Or maybe just get a surrogate? She.. she must have wanted to die..”

Wanted to die?? Steven clutched his shirt. Who would want to die? Why would mom want to die?? What was a surrogate?

“.... I’m-” Future Steven froze, eyes widening. “Oh my god.” he put a hand over his mouth. “I’m.. I’m so sorry, oh my god.” he sat up. “I shouldn’t be telling you this! I shouldn’t be- I can’t believe..” He buried his head in his hands. 

Steven scooted closer and put a hand on his back. “I-it’s okay.. Um.. I’m sure mom wanted us.. And.. she loves us! Right? From in our gem?”

“It’s..” Future Steven gulped. “It’s not about that. I’m sorry I just pushed all that onto you, you’re a kid. You shouldn’t let anyone do what I just did to you.”

“... Share your feelings?”

“No! No. That’s fine. But.. What I mean is.. People are going to come to you for advice.” Future Steven put a hand on his shoulder and Steven stiffened up. Nothing other him said made any sense.. It was all just confusing, contradictory, sad, stuff.. What happened in the future..?

“A-and..” He continued. “Sometimes, it’s too much! And you don’t want to help them because you’re struggling yourself. And I want you to know you don’t have to help at the expense of yourself, okay? Take care of yourself and tell people about your problems.”

“..O-okay..” he pushed Future Steven’s hand off his shoulder slowly. “I.. I knew that. I wouldn’t.. Why would I hide when I'm sad? Do.. you do that?”

Future Steven paled and turned away. “I-”

“Um.” Steven placed a hand on his arm lightly. “You shouldn’t.”

“I know, that’s why I’m telling you not to.”

“Oh.” Steven bit his lip. “W.. what happened?” He asked, unable to contain his question any longer. Future Steven frowned. “What do you mean?” “Like.. why are you sad?”

Future Steven sighed. “That’s a long story. Hopefully.. You learn from me and you’re not gonna end up like me, okay? I.. um.. I mean, I’m not like _super_ sad. Things are better than they were. But.. a lot of gem stuff is dangerous, Steven.”

“So.. should..” Steven whined. Dangerous? Wasn’t it gonna be like on TV and in those books Connie read? Cool and fast and with a happy ending? “Should I not do gem stuff?”

“No! No. That’s not what I mean. You can, just be careful, okay? And come to the gems for help when you need it.”

“O-okay..”

Future Steven sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m probably not making much sense.”

Steven thumbed the fabric of his shirt. Yeah, other him wasn’t making sense. The future seemed to suck, honestly. His mom wasn’t good, but she wasn’t bad? And he was gonna get hurt and sad? And.. weird? He sniffled. He didn’t wanna be like that.. He didn’t wanna be sad and weird and thinking about war and stuff.. 

Steven started to cry quietly, curling up. He had just started doing missions, and now he couldn’t..? He just wanted to be helpful, to be useful, maybe then the gems wouldn’t ignore him as much anymore.. Or make fun of him..

“Hey, hey.. Don’t cry..” 

Future Steven took Steven’s hands and held them. “I know it’s a lot-”

“It is a lot!” Steven snapped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it sounds bad!! I don’t want the future to be bad! I just st-started gem missions and.. And.. I wanna be happy! I’ve already seen some stuff that’s made me s-sad.. Is- is there gonna be more?? I thought- I thought this was..” He sobbed. “Gonna be fun!!”

Future Steven breathed out slowly, eyes watery. Steven felt his arms wrap around him, pink and warm and soft from the jacket. He hugged back, pushing down the thought about how weird this was, and cried into his jacket as Future Steven spoke. He didn’t focus on him, though, all he could think about was the future, and his mom, and the gems, and himself.

"I’m so sorry.." Future Steven said, words reaching nobody. "I.. I shouldn’t have said anything. I just.. I just don’t want you to grow up to be like me. I’m--" He hiccuped. "Shoot. I.. okay, I’m gonna stop now. You can figure t-things out."

Should he just go back to living with his dad? But the van was so cramped and he was begging to live with the gems since forever! But now that he was.. They didn’t seem to really want him around. Well, they did, but.. It was little things that made him feel weird. Like how they didn’t respect his stuff, or how Pearl rolled her eyes at him.. But they loved him! He knew that; otherwise, they wouldn’t have cried so hard when he almost died a week ago.. His eyes widened. He almost died a week ago. Sure, it was just his gem changing his shape and stuff, not really a mission, but it was gem stuff and it almost killed him! Maybe future him is right.. Maybe he should stay away from gem stuff.. 

“... I.. I don’t wanna not do gem stuff.” He mumbled. “I love the gems.”

“You can keep doing gem stuff..”

“But it’ll be dangerous.”

“Yes, but.. That doesn’t mean you’re gonna..”

“Gonna what? Die? I alrea- alread.. Already almost did!” He started to shake. “A-and something happened to you.. So- so-”

“Hey.” Future Steven rubbed his back and held him closer. “I.. I can’t promise you’re always gonna be happy and safe. But if you fight for it, then.. Things will be better.”

“What??”

“Sorry! I.. I don’t know what to say. I’m really freaked out, honestly. Um. Doing gem stuff is good. But just be safe, is all I’m saying. Don’t throw yourself into a fire pit or anything stupid.”

“I won’t!”

“Then you’re good.”

“But you said-”

“I’m sorry about what I said. I did a lot of dumb stuff and there are a lot of people who don’t like me. A lot of gems who don’t like me. And you. And they’re going to come, so you have to be ready for it.”

“I- is this like.. My destiny..?”

“.... Yes.” He sighed. “Yes, it is. To protect the Earth with the Crystal Gems. But.. you gotta also protect yourself, y’know?”

“Oh..” He wiped his eyes. So.. gem stuff was dangerous, but as long as he was smart, he would be okay..? And gems were gonna hurt Earth and he had to.. Fight them? With the gems? Well.. if it was his destiny, he doesn’t really have a choice, does he? 

“What do you mean..? Protect myself?”

“All this stuff will stay with you. It’ll hurt you mentally. But it doesn’t have to if you’re open and honest about your feelings and let people help you.”

He nodded. “O-okay.. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I can do that. So.. I’m gonna be okay?”

“Yes.”

Steven pulled away from the hug and wiped his eyes again. “O-okay! Okay.” He tried to smile. He’d be okay! And now he knew how to be safe and healthy during gem stuff! Maybe he’d even end up better than other him right now..

“S-so.. is there anything else you.. Need to tell me?”

“Oh, uh.” Future Steven got quiet, thinking for a long time before he finally spoke. “You are not your mother.”

Steven tilted his head. “Uh.. duh. I’m Steven.”

Future Steven laughed weakly. “Right, yes, you are. But a lot of gems don’t realize that. And they’ll try to convince you that you’re her, or that you’re trapping her by having your body around her gem. But she’s gone, okay? She’s not coming back, even if your gem is taken out.”

Steven shuddered and held his stomach. Gem taken out? He hoped he’d never see that happen.. Would he die?

“And..” He kept talking, bringing Steven out of his thoughts. “Gems will call you Rose or- uh- they’ll call you Rose and blame you for your mother’s mistakes. And sometimes, you’ll get memories of her. But that doesn’t mean you’re her. You’re not her, you’re your own person.”

Steven nodded. “Okay.”

“And you don’t have to be like her, either!”

“What?? Why? I- everyone wants-”

“I know. I know they want you to be like her but you.. You can be someone even better.” He tapped him. “Yourself.”

“...” Steven smiled. “Okay.. that.. Okay. Yeah! I’ll be myself and stuff.. Um..” He looked out onto the ocean. “... It’s pretty here.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess.” Future Steven shrugged. Steven frowned. “... Hey, Big me?” Future Steven turned to him. “You can just call me Steven..” He said amusedly. “No, that’s confusing. I’ll.. I’ll call you Steven two.” He grinned, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes like it used to. Future Steven chuckled. “Okay, Steven one, what’s up?”

“... Do you wanna.. Explore the island? And.. stop talking about.. Sad stuff?”

“Oh.” Future Steven blinked, seemingly surprised. “Um. Sure.” He sat up. “Where do you wanna go?”

“I wanna explore. The whole point is to not know where you’re going! Did I seriously forget all fun stuff?” Steven stood up and held out his hand. “Let’s go!! You’re sad, so.. You should be happy and we should go somewhere pretty!”

Future Steven smiled and grabbed his hand and stood up, he kept holding it. “Okay, um.. Steven one. Where is somewhere pretty?”

Steven frowned. “I just told you, we don’t know where we’re going! It’s exploring!! Fun?? Do you know what fun is?”

Future Steven quirked his mouth to the side and nodded. “Um. Yeah, I guess. I do. I just.. Don’t get to have much fun anymore.”

“What????” Steven whined. “No fun??” 

“No! Not.. no fun.. Just less! I have responsibilities and-”

  
“Well, forget them! Let’s have fun! You’re sad and you.. You have a lot to think about, so.. You should have fun!” Steven started walking forward. “In fact.. Didn’t you just tell me to.. Protect myself by taking care of myself??” 

Future Steven’s eyes widened. “Oh. I guess I did.”

“Yeah! And you’re me! So I’m helping you!”

“You don’t have to-”

“I want to.”

Future Steven grinned and squeezed his hand. “Okay, then. You lead the way.”

Steven beamed and hopped on Future Steven’s shoulders. “To the North, trusty steed!”

Future Steven laughed and started to walk into the forest. “I’m your steed now?”

“Yes! Because you’re stronger so you gotta carry me!”

“Okay.” He giggled. “Okay. I’m your horse or whatever.”

“No! You’re Lion!” 

“I’m Lion?”

  
“Yeah! Be Lion!”

Future Steven laughed some more and then let out a soft roar. Steven crossed his arms. If he was gonna cheer future him up, he’d need to get him out of this.. Weird, shy, shell. 

“No! Louder!” He commanded. “Like you’re gonna teleport me!!”

Future Steven snickered and took in a deep breath. 

“RAWRRRRRRR!!”

  
“Louder!!”

“I’m not su-”

“C’mon!! Nobody can hear you! I’ll roar, too!”

“Aw, like Lion and a cub?”

Steven’s eyes sparkled. “Yes! Yes! I’m the lion cub! I’m gonna roar with you! On three: One, two, three!”

They both roared as loud as they could and then burst out into laughter. For Steven it felt natural, but he could still feel some tension in Future Steven’s shoulders, even if most of his was let out. Future Steven wiped his eyes and giggled. “Oh my god..” He sighed. “You’re so.. Augh. You’re very good, Steven two. I like you.”

“I’d sure hope so!! ‘Cause I like you, too!” He leaned down and booped his nose. Future Steven snickered and pushed aside a branch. “You sure are happy, huh?” Steven bit his lip. He did still feel bad.. But.. “I am now! Because we’re exploring. And all that stuff.. It sucks to learn about.. But.. now I know! I know that I’m not my mom.. And.. she wasn’t all good or all bad.. And.. um.. There was a-a w.. A war.. And.. um.. Uh.. gem stuff is dangerous! But I can be safe by protecting myself and being open and honest about my feelings! So.. now that I know all that, let’s just have fun and stuff!” 

Future Steven hummed. “Yeah. Yeah. Still a little sad, but.. Don’t focus on it. Okay..”

“Exactly! Now.. um.. Go.. up that hill!”

They spent the next few minutes just exploring the island. They found shiny rocks, weird plants, Lars, Sadie, and Steven’s old shelter, some crystal coconuts, and finally they sat down in a grassy area near the beach. Future Steven laid down and Steven got off his back, laying down next to him and looking up at the sky.

“... This was fun.” Future Steven said. “Thank you. I.. I haven’t.. Really let go and just let myself live in a long time..”

“No prob, Bob.” Steven bumped his arm with his fist. “You wanna watch clouds?”

“Already am. Come join me, Steven one.” He bumped him back. Steven chuckled and laid on his back. He was proud of himself. Steven two really seemed happier. He hoped he would remember how to be happy in the future now.. So future him never had to be sad. He shrugged away all those thoughts and pointed up at a cloud.

“That one looks like Pearl!”

Future Steven squinted. “It.. does?”

Steven sighed. It seemed he still had work to do.. He crawled over and pointed at it again, tracing it’s outline. “Yeah! There’s the hair.. The pointy nose..”

“Oh! I see it!” Future Steven exclaimed. “It does look like Pearl!”

Steven laid down again. “Uh-huh.” He put his finger on his nose and stuck it out, then spoke in a high pitched nasally voice. “‘Steven! You can’t bring a seagull into the house! I won’t allow it! Bluh bluh!’” 

Both Steven’s laughed, then Future Steven made a triangle around his nose and slicked his hair back. “‘Steven! Clean your room!! Don’t stay up ‘til 4 am playing lonely blade! Bluh bluh!!’”

Both Steven’s laughed again, harder this time. “She totally sounds like that!!” Steven wheezed. Future Steven yelled out a laugh and covered his mouth. “Yeah!! Oh my gosh- I remember bringing that seagull in! She was so mad when it kep- kept dodging her!!” Steven laughed. “And- and.. Amethyst said it looked like her!!”

“She looks like a bird!”

“Yeah!!” Future Steven giggled. “O-okay.. Okay. Um.. Uh.. that one kinda looks like Amethyst!” He pointed at a long and wide cloud. “Do her!” 

Steven squinted. “No, it doesn’t.. It looks like a hotdog.”

“Whatever, whatever, just do her!”

“Okay!!” Steven snickered, eyes gleaming. “Um.. ‘What’s up, Ste-man!!’” He faked a loud burp. “‘ Whoops! Ahahaha!! Now i’m gonna eat your breakfast plate then go into my room for the rest of the week!”

Future Steven chuckled. “Um.. ‘Ste-man!’” He put on a crackly and pitchy voice. “‘I’m sad but I’m not gonna tell you! And.. I'm gonna eat your TV!’”

Steven snoofed. “Yeah.. I think we reached our peak already with Pearl.”

“Yeah.. And Garnet just.. I dunno how to do an impression of her and make it funny.”

“Um..” Steven pushed his hair in front of his eyes, deepening his voice. “‘I’m not going to say anything, but I expect you to understand that what you did was wrooong’” 

Future Steven giggled. “Yeah.. she doesn’t talk much. Well, she does now. But.. not.. Well. Y’know what I mean.”

Steven didn’t really, but nodded anyways.

Future Steven sat up. "I think.. We should go back now."

"Aww.." Steven pouted. "Why?"

"Because the gems might have figured out some way to get me back to the future." He got up. "I don't want to change the past any more than I already have."

"Mm.. Okay.." Steven sighed and got up. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems and Steven hunt for a way to get Future Steven back to his time. Little Steven has a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This section was written AFTER suf so if its a little different, that's why

They warped back into the house, Steven holding Future Steven’s hand. After their talk, he was glad to be back someplace familiar. His eyes caught the painting of his mom on the wall, and instead of feeling the usual fullness of being inspired, he felt uneasy and.. Confused. He frowned and followed Future Steven into the living room.

“So, did you guys find anything?” Future Steven asked. The Crystal Gems turned around, slightly unnerved by the deep voice. “Um.. well..” Pearl started. “We did find some good shards of the time pieces that could work.. But we need to go somewhere else to get a special adhesive.”

“Oh, cool!” Steven chimed in. “Can we come with?”

“It’s at the bottom of the ocean.” Garnet said. Steven frowned.

“So?” Future Steven asked. “We could just put bubbles over our heads.”

The Crystal Gems stared at him, before Garnet slowly nodded. “Yes. You could.. And we do have some iron boots.. Those will help.”

“You can’t be serious.” Pearl scoffed.

“Please!!” Steven begged. “You promised me a mission today..” He sniffled, giving them puppy dog eyes. Pearl turned away and crossed her arms. “Well, I don’t approve of it, but if Garnet says it’s okay.. Then I suppose it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah!! Let’s go to the bottom of the ocean, Steven!” Amethyst said, hopping down from the counter. “Just like with that _Connie girl~!_”

Steven blushed, he regretted telling her about that. “Amethyst..”

“Oh! Wait!” Amethyst turned towards Future Steven. “How’s Connie in the future? Are you two _married_?~” 

“Amethyst!!” Steven shoved her lightly. “Stop it!!”

Future Steven chuckled, a fond look in his eye. “Maybe.”

Amethyst gasped. Steven’s eyes widened and he turned to him. “R..really..? Me and Connie..?” He blushed, imagining her in a wedding dress. Gosh, she’d be so pretty..

“I said maybe, not yes.” Future Steven winked. Steven felt shame burn in his stomach. Of course. God, he was so stupid. As if he’d ever be with Connie.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Garnet said, walking towards the warp. Future Steven followed close behind and Steven caught up with them. “Wait, you two!” Pearl called out. “You forgot your swimming gear..”

Her gem glowed and she pulled out two pairs of iron boots and some blue wetsuits. “Here.”

“Why do you have that in your gem?” Steven asked, grabbing the smaller suit.

“Well.. You can never be over prepared.” Pearl said. 

Amethyst snorted. “Yeah, you can. You have, like, a million things in there.”

Future Steven went to the bathroom to change, lugging the heavy iron boots behind him. Steven just grabbed his own stuff and changed behind the counter, tuning out Pearl and Amethyst’s bickering. Eventually, Future Steven and Steven were changed, Future Steven bubbled both of their heads, and they got on the warp pad. 

Steven bounced off as they warped, floating around and giggling. Everyone ignored him except for Amethyst and Future Steven. Future Steven smiled tensely at him while Amethyst just laughed and hit his foot to give him some speed. Steven giggled, enjoying himself until he was suddenly deep underwater and pulled to the wet sad below him. Garnet look a quick look at her surroundings before heading off East, everyone else trailing behind her. Steven was last in the group, looking around at the ocean deep.

“Whoa..”

It was so beautiful to him. Everything was coated in a nice, relaxing, wavy, blue. Bright and happy coral sprung up from shiny rocks and fish swam by peacefully, grouping together and splitting apart. Jellyfish floated by, glowing and lighting up the water. Everything moved slower here, more relaxed.. Like they didn’t have a care in the world..

“Hey, Steven.” 

Steven looked up to Future Steven. “Huh?”

“You’re lagging behind. Try to keep up, okay?”

Steven frowned. “Sorry.. It’s just really pretty down here..”

Future Steven blinked, then looked around. “Huh.. Yeah, I.. I guess it is.” He smiled, eyes shining a little as he watched an anemone pulse and glow. “But, um.” He shook his head, focusing. “We need to stay with the others.” 

He held his hand out. Steven took it and gave it a small squeeze. 

“Maybe later we can just.. Sit down here? Watching everything?” Steven asked. 

Future Steven smiled. “That would be nice.. If we have time to do that, then sure. We’ll do it.”

Steven grinned and nodded, leaping to catch up to the Crystal Gems, who were waiting up ahead. Future Steven went with, a small smile staying on his face.

“This is it.” Garnet said, stepping inside the broken down gem structure. The walls were silver, with diamond shaped pink lights embedded in the walls. Some were broken, cracks going up and down their symbol. The structure itself was dome shaped, with corridors leading off to different domes. In the middle of the main room, the one they were currently in, was a hand control panel with four diamonds on it. Already, nature had started to take back the place- algae growing over the broken tiles and fish seaweed growing between the cracks. 

“So.. what exactly are we looking for?” Future Steven asked. 

“An adhesive. It should be contained in something.. Last I remember, it should look pink.” Pearl said.

Future Steven nodded. “Okay. I’ll start searching.” He walked to one of the corridors. Steven followed close behind, scared of being left alone. 

“Hey!!” Amethyst called. Future Steven stopped and turned around. “Huh?”

“Where do you think you’re going!? I’m coming with!!”

“Um.. okay!” Future Steven called, waiting as she walked over to them. “Dude, don’t just go wandering off.”

Future Steven rolled his eyes. “I’m not a kid anymore, Amethyst.”

Steven frowned. Future Steven turned back around and smiled awkwardly. “No.. no offense, Steven one..”

“None taken.” Steven lied, crossing his arms. He thought at least _he_ would believe in _himself_. 

Amethyst groaned. “Stop bickering and let’s go already!!”

Future Steven frowned confusedly at her before walking down the corridor. The hallway broke in the middle, leaving it open to the rest of the ocean. Tiles and tubes laid on the floor, embedded in the sand or too heavy to float to the surface. Future Steven and Amethyst ignored them, focused solely on heading to the other end of the hallway, which connected to the dome. 

Steven, meanwhile, was looking at the broken tiles and tubes. Maybe the adhesive was under here somewhere..? Why wouldn’t it be?

He bent down, fingers inches from the broken glass.

“Steven!!” Future him squaked. Steven bolted upright. “Huh??”

“What in the cosmos are you _doing_?!” Future Steven walked over, leaning down and looking at the tile. “Don’t touch broken glass! You could hurt yourself!”

“Um.. Sorry..” Steven blushed, looking away. 

Future Steven opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by loud snickering. 

“What’s so funny?” Future Steven placed his hands on his hips and turned to Amethyst. Amethyst laughed harder. “Dude!! You sound just like Pearl!”

“What?!” Steven gasped, putting a hand to his chest in offence. “I do not!”

“You do!!”

Future Steven turned to Steven for help. Steven shrugged. He did sound like Pearl..

Future Steven gaped and hung his head in defeat. “No…”

Amethyst slapped his back and snorted. “Don’t worry, dude. You may sound like Pearl, but at least you don’t look like her!!” 

She burst into laughter at her own joke and Future Steven rolled his eyes and smiled. “I guess so.” 

Future Steven shut his eyes and his nose glowed, turning into a point. He grinned at Amethyst for a response and she wheezed, doubling over. “Oh, oh man!!” She snorted. “I _like_ you!!”

“Eh-he, thanks!”

Steven watched their interactions silently, rubbing at his arm which was starting to get pruny. He felt.. Left out. As always. Why did nobody seem to want him around..? He thought.. He thought that he and Steven two would be close.. Or at least he wouldn’t ignore him, but.. Even he didn’t want to hang out with himself. 

Steven sighed. Was it something with him? Was he annoying? Was he just too little? He looked back up at Steven two, watching him laugh with Amethyst. 

At least when he grew up, they wouldn’t ignore him anymore.

Future Steven and Amethyst turned away, heading back on their course to the dome. Steven followed close behind, staring off at the fish and feeling the back of his eyes burn.

“Oh, shoot, dude!!” Amethyst shouted out. “I think that’s it!”

Steven peeked out from behind Future Steven’s leg to where she was pointing. 

In the middle of the giant dome was a nearly perfectly preserved glass case with stiff pink goop inside. It shimmered and glowed, occasionally sticking itself to the sides of the tube, then peeling off slowly. Future Steven grinned. “Great! I’ll just grab the tube and-”

“Whoa, dude.” Amethyst grabbed his arm. “We don’t know how to handle that thing. I’ll get Garnet, you stay here with Little Ste-man.”

Future Steven frowned. “But-”

“But nothing!! Stay put or I’ll bite you.” She chomped her teeth together and then walked off. Future Steven sighed and sat down, looking off in the distance. Steven frowned and looked down, kicking up a pebble and trying to let the sounds of the ocean calm him.

“... Hey.”

Steven looked up.

“You doing okay?”

“... Yeah.” Steven lied, looking away. His eyes burned again. Future Steven sighed and patted the spot next to him. Steven sat down, but didn’t look him in the eyes. He didn’t want to. He didn’t wanna be here right now, he wanted to just.. Lay down in the middle of the ocean and watch the fish. Nothing to worry about and nobody to worry about him. 

“... You remember our talk back on Mask Island?” Future Steven asked, shifting closer to him.

Steven huffed. “Yeah.. I guess.”

“Remember when I told you to.. Open up about your feelings and.. Take care of yourself?”

“... Maybe.” Steven sighed.

“Well.. this is one of those times~” He sang a little, awkwardly laughing afterwards. “We’re alone.. And nobody will know except me! So.. you can tell me what’s up.”

“I don’t wanna.”

Future Steven sighed. “I know. But it’s good for you.”

“Why?” Steven scooted further away.

“‘Cause if you bottle up your emotions, it’ll hurt really bad.”

Steven frowned, furrowing his brows. He felt himself tense up more, remembering all the far away looks in Future him’s eyes.. The vague explanations of bad things.. War, fear, anxiety.. He pouted. He didn’t wanna tell him.. But..

“Is.. is that what happened to you?” He looked up at him. Future Steven’s eyes widened for a second, then he furrowed his brows. 

“What do you mean?”

“Like.. is that why you’re sad? ‘Cause you never told anyone about your feelings?”

“... Well, not opening up sure didn’t help.” He chuckled weakly. “I.. I kept everything mostly to myself. It feels better, but in the end, it’ll all come back to bite you. So.. um.. Tell me what’s up. Though, you don’t have to now.”

“...I..-”

The ground beneath them started to shake.

“W- what’s going on??” Steven whined, getting up unsteadily. Future Steven stood, bubbles forming around his fists. “I don’t know. Possibly a corrupted monster.” He looked around.

A deep, guttural, roar sounded from the depths of the base, echoing around them. Glass broke off and flew away, silver framing crashed down inches from Steven’s feet. He squeaked and flinched away. 

“S-steven two!!” He cried out. “I’m scared! W- we’re too heavy to move fast!”

“We don’t have to move fast, we just gotta beat it.” Future Steven said, eyebrows drawn together and eyes sharp. “Come close to me. I’ll protect you.”

Steven stomped over, clutching Future Steven’s jacket. Stars, he felt so useless.. Hiding behind himself like a scared little kid-

Another roar, closer this time. Steven whimpered. He felt a hand fluff up his hair comfortingly.

“Steven!!” Pearl called out, rushing over. “Oh, thank goodness you’re okay! We need to get that adhesive and run!!”

“Okay.” Future Steven nodded. “You handle the adhesive, I’ll get the monster.”

“On your own?? That’s crazy!!” Amethyst shouted.

_ **ROOOOOOARRRRR** _

Speeding around the corner, crashing into the dome and shattering the remaining hallway, was a gigantic corrupted beast. It had tens of rows of teeth, decorated with fish’s blood and crust. It’s body was long like an eel and it’s face was that of an anglerfish. From the inside of its mouth hung down the lure, it’s bright red gem on the end. Steven screamed, his bubble forming around his body. Future Steven flinched.

“Crystal Gems! Ready your weapons!” Garnet cried out. Everyone summoned their weapons, then launched themselves at it. Pearl came from underneath, trying to stab it’s slim body. Amethyst flung her whips at it, scratching the side of its face, but since they were underwater, they didn’t have enough snap to tangle it. Then Garnet and Future Steven, fists ready, launched themselves directly at the beast. Steven could only watch in awe as Future Steven maneuvered his way around the beast, summoning his shield like it was nothing and flinging shield after shield into its lure to hopefully snap it and free the gem inside. 

Garnet, quicker than him, went inside the mouth and punched the tongue, then launched out before it could swallow her whole. Together, they worked amazingly- Steven weakening it and Garnet keeping it distracted. Pearl and Amethyst were still for a moment, watching Future Steven in amazement. Steven wished they would look at him like that. Then they went back to fighting.

Future Steven summoned his shield once again and flung it at the thin lure, cutting directly through. The creature cried out in pain, screaming and shattering all the glass in the dome before poofing, it’s gem slowly floating down. Garnet bubbled and sent it off. They regrouped at the sea floor, his family crowding Future Steven and cheering for him.

“Great job, Steven!” Pearl chimed. 

“Yeah!! You were a _beast_!!” Amethyst said, hugging him tightly. 

Garnet ruffled his hair and gave him a thumbs up, impressed. Future Steven blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Aw, thanks guys.”

Steven watched on, clutching his shirt.

The trip home was quiet. They warped back into the house, took off their boots and suits, then took turns taking a shower to clean off then get redressed. By then, the sky outside was nearly dark.

“Well, it seems you two should turn in for the night.” Pearl said. 

“What??” Future Steven frowned. “But I have to go back!”

“Yes, but we don’t have the time sphere ready yet. We still need to attach the adhesive and then test it, which will probably take all night. So, in the meantime, you should rest.

Future Steven sighed. “Fine.”

Pearl squinted then gave him a tight smile, walking off into the temple with the rest of the gems.

Now it was just Steven and Steven.

Steven looked up at Future Steven. Future Steven was looking back.

They were silent.

“... Um.” Steven finally broke their gaze. “I.. I’m gonna head to bed. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Future Steven said. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Do.. you um.. Want my PJs?”

“They’re probably too small.”

“Right.” Steven nodded, heading up the stairs. Future Steven laid down on the couch, pulling an extra blanket over himself and pulling out his phone.  
Steven changed into his PJs and got into bed, shutting his eyes and falling asleep.

…

Steven awoke.

Everything was painted in a dark reddish pink, the sky was filled with smoke and around him were countless broken gems. Fire reflected in their dull and lifeless surface. He heard screaming in the distance, people being killed, being torn from their forms, victory cries that were half there. 

In the distance, there was one lone figure. A tall woman, weilding a sword and shield. She had curly pink hair and her dress, tattered, blew in the wind. Nobody else was on the field.

Suddenly, he was closer, right beneath her, laying on the ground, helpless. 

“You’re a mistake, you know that, right?” Rose laughed. “I never wanted to have you, I just wanted to die! You were just.. A byproduct!”

That’s not true! He knew that wasn’t true..

“Oh, but it is!” She grabbed him by the shirt, yanking it up and revealing his gem. “Didn’t you hear him, Steven? Hear _yourself_? He told you everything about me! That I was in a war! That I wanted to die! That you were a mistake! I mean.. Nobody even _WANTS_ you!” 

She threw him to the ground and held her sword to his throat, grinning maniacally. 

No.. He thought. You’re wrong..

“Oh, Steven.. Are you that dense? Pearl always ignores you, Amethyst only laughs at you. And Garnet.. Garnet always has somewhere else to be! Even your own future _self_ doesn’t want to be around you!!” 

The blade graced his skin, a drop of blood spilling down the front of the edge. 

“Everyone likes future you better anyways.” She rolled her eyes. “Why can’t you be more like him, huh? Why can’t you just **grow up?**”

Before he can answer, she thrusts the sword down.

…

Steven bolted up in bed, gripping the sheets as he feels wet tears roll down his cheeks. The painting next to him stared him down and he starts sobbing before he can process what he’s feeling. Frantically, he reached around for his stuffed bear and hugged it close to his chest, rocking back and forth. Flashes of his nightmare come back to him and he shakes his head, trying to get them out. 

He started hyperventilating, and he has no idea what that means. He’s never felt this way before. He.. he..

He got out of bed and raced downstairs to Future Steven, who was sleeping peacefully, his phone on the table. Steven reached out to shake him awake, but stops. What is he doing..? He can’t wake him up because of a dumb nightmare! He isn’t a kid anym-

He panted faster, feeling like he’s gonna puke.

Before he could stop himself, Steven shook Future Steven awake rapidly, sobbing.

Future Steven opened his eyes blearily. “Huh..? What- wh..” He frowned. Steven wiped his eyes and curled in on himself, rubbing his teddy bears fur over and over again to work out all his nervous energy.

“S-sorry f-f-for waking y.. You. I.. I had a-a night-nightmare a-and now I-I’m s-shaking and I don’t know why..” He hiccuped. “I- I feel bad..”

Future Steven sat up and pulled Steven close, wrapping his blanket around him. Steven shook and sobbed, hugging him back.

“Hey.. hey..” Future Steven whispered gently, rubbing his back. “It’s okay.. It’s okay.. You’re safe. Try and take deep breaths with me, okay..? In..” He took in a deep breath. Steven gulped in air. “Out.” He let it out slowly. Steven wheezed it out.

They worked through that for a few minutes until Steven was able to slowly breathe again. He wasn’t calm, but he wasn’t gonna puke anymore.

“W-what’s happening to me?” He finally asked, looking up at Future Steven.

Future Steven looks back down at him with helpless sadness.

“You’re having a panic attack.”

“W-what’s that..?”

“It’s when something bad happens.. And that makes you freak out. Your body goes.. Uh.. crazy. And then your mind, too. It sucks, but you’ll be okay.”

“H-” He gulped, gripping his shirt and panting again. 

“Hey, hey.. Deep breaths.. It’s all okay.. You’re safe, remember?”

“I- I don’t care about that..” He sniffled. “M-my n-nightmare..”

“Sh. Breathe slowly then we can talk about that.”

Steven breathed in slowly through his nose, then let it out through his mouth. He repeated this for a few minutes before he was finally breathing somewhat normally.

“O-okay..”

“Okay.” Future Steven leaned back against the back of the couch, pulling Steven to his chest. They were laid at an incline now, blanket weighing on Steven nicely. Steven sighed and snuggled closer. Future Steven rubbed his back and sighed. 

“So.. You wanna tell me about your dream?”

Steven gulped, feeling his body shake again. Future Steven pulled the blanket up further and comforted him until he could talk again.

“Um. I.. I just.. I wanna.. Ask you something..” Steven said, wiping his eyes. Future Steven nodded. “Sure. What is it?”

“... Am I.. a mistake?”

“What?” Future Steven said, voice hollowed out. “I.. No. No.” He paled, sitting up and wrapping his arms completely around Steven. “No. You’re not a.. A mistake. Our mother definitely planned on having you.”

“... Am I annoying?”

“Sometimes, but you’ll grow out of that. You’re more endearing than annoying, though. You’re great.”

“... Are you lying?”

“No.”

“... Do Pearl and- and Amethyst and G-Garnet like me..?”

“They love you.”

“...” He put his face in Future Steven’s shirt, sniffling. “It doesn’t feel like it.”

“... I know. They.. they don’t know how to act around kids.” Future Steven said, shutting his eyes and resting his chin on Steven’s head, cradling him. “They never were kids. They never have.. Had kids. They don’t know what you want or need.. They’re just improvising. So they.. They don’t know how to show it yet, but they love you.. So much. So, so much.”

“...” Steven smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah. Trust me.”

“... Okay. Um..” He looked up at him. Future Steven had tears in his eyes, too. Steven frowned and wiped his cheek. “Are you okay..?”

“Don’t worry about me.” Future Steven smiled weakly. “This is about you.”

“But..”

“You’ve got enough to deal with already, Steven. I don't wanna add to that baggage.”

“Baggage?”

“It.. it means like.. Sad stuff.”

“Oh.” He nodded. He didn’t have that much, but.. Maybe he would soon.

“What’s up with you, though? Why all the questions suddenly..?” Future Steven asked. Steven frowned. “I.. I had a dream. About Mom.”

“Oh.”

“We were in a war. There was.. Was.. broken people. Gems.”

“Oh..”

“A-and..” He hiccuped, feeling himself start to shake again. He held his teddy bear close to his chest, sobbing into it. “S-she told me that she.. She wanted to die. That she.. She didn’t want me! And nobody wanted me! And e-everyone liked you better!!”

“Oh, oh, Steven..” Future Steven’s voice cracked as he pulled him into a hug. “That- none of that stuff is true! Your family loves you.. D-don’t.. Don’t believe what she said..”

Steven couldn’t answer, but he nodded. Future him was probably right. The gems probably did love him, and his mom wouldn’t tell him that stuff.. But everything was just so scary..

He felt himself being lifted up and carried upstairs. He felt the familiar softness of the bed below him. “Huh..?” He looked up. Future Steven pulled up the covers. “Here. This is more comfortable than the couch.” He chuckled and sat beside him. 

Steven smiled and held his hand. Future Steven looked down at it, pleasantly surprised.

“C-can.. Can you stay with me tonight?” Steven asked, wiping his eyes. “I don’t wanna be alone.”

Future Steven stared at him for a moment, thinking, before he smiled and nodded. “Sure. Yeah. I’ll stay. Just.. let me get some stuff from downstairs.”

He left his side and Steven waited, running his hands through his bears fur. Future Steven came back up with a blanket and his phone. He set the phone on the bedside and got into bed, then threw the extra blanket on top of them. Steven settled in right next to Future Steven, and Future Steven held him close. Steven smiled.

“... Hey, Future me?”

“Yeah?”

He grabbed MC Bear Bear from the bed and put it in Future Steven’s arms.

“For you. ‘Cause you’re sad too.”

Future Steven’s eyes welled up with tears and he sniffled. 

“.. T-thank you.” He wiped his eyes. Steven hugged him and they embraced.

“Thank you.” Steven said. “F-for.. For being here for me. And stuff.”

“Of course.” Future Steven nodded. “I knew I wished I had someone there for me as a kid.”

“Mhmm.”

Steven shut his eyes and nuzzled his teddy bear, falling fast asleep in minutes.


End file.
